Fabric tubing



March 16,1943. Q w R ET AL j 2,314,202

' FABRIC TUBI NG Filed June 24, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet l March 16, "1943. A. c. 'EWER HAL 2,314,202

FABRIC TUBING Filed June 24, 1940 4Sheets-Sheet 2 v March 16, 1943. A. C. EWE'R EIAL FABRIC TUBING Filed Jun 24, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 aich 16, 1943.

A. cQ EWER ET'AL FABRIC-TUBING Filed June 24, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented 1 6, 1943 FABRIC roams Arthur G. Ewer, Brooklyn, N. v. Charles v. may,

Webster Groves, Mo., and Robert W. Harmer Freeport, N.

Missouri Y., assignors to Bemis Bro. Bag .Company, St. Louis, Mo.,

a corporation of Application June 24', 1940, Serial No. 342,098

3 Claims. (Cl. 112-63) This invention relates to fabric tubing and to a method and apparatus for making said tubing,

and more particularly to biased-seam, fabric tubing.

The type of tubing referred to is that disclosed in the United States patent application of Burton August Hannewald et al., SerialNo.- 220,670, filed July 22, 1938, for Packaging method andarticle'; and also that shown in the United States patent application of Alonzo E. Albin, Serial No. 313,337, filed January 11, 1940, for Method and apparatus for making fabric tubing, issued as Patent 2,260,816, dated October 28, 1941.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of accurate biased-seam,

- fabric tubing having the biased seam (which is marked for accurate registry) interiorly located so that-the ultimate package cover made from the tubing is smoother and hides the seam; the pro- .vision of the method and apparatus for manufacturing such tubing whereby interiorly locating the seam comprises a relatively simple operation. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The'invention accordingly comprises thesteps and sequence of steps, the elements and combinations of elements, features of' construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the structures hereinafter described,'and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims. i

-In the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated one of various possible embodiments of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the apparatus for carrying out the method disclosed herein, the dash lines indicating how certain material moves;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a right-side elevation of Fig. 1;

18. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of a strip of material preparatory to sewing, and shows certain registry marks;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating an operation viewed substantially along the arrow shown at X in Fig. 1;

Fig. '7 is a perspective view illustrating another operation when viewed substantially along the arrowshown atYinFig.1;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a seaming operation when viewed substantially along the arrow shown at Z in Fig. l; and

Fig. 9 is an isometric view of a finished length of tubing after'untwisting.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the above-mentioned Hannewald et. a1. application and in the Albin patent, there is shown expansible tubing made by bias-seaming a plain strip of loosely woven material. This results in an expansible tubular product with an exterior selvage at the seam.

v In the above-mentioned Albin patent is shown machinery for edge marking the strip material for subsequent accurate registry and obtaining accurate bias seaming. This patent also shows ma chinery-for removing the inherent twist from said material after it is bias-seamed. Nevertheless, in this latter patent, the product still has an exterior selvage at the seam.

The present invention is for the purpose of continuously producing biased (or helical) seamed tubing such as in said patent, but wherein the seam is turned inside, that is, inverted, in order that the resulting product presents a smoother appearance. Since, as indicated in said patent,

the material after being bias-seamed is twistedy there is presented herein the problem of whether or not to turn the material inside out prior to, or after untwisting it. As will be shown, it is feasible to turn the material inside out continuously prior to untwisting, and thereafter untwisting it by-means of the untwisting machinery disclosed in said Albin patent. By this means are saved the steps which would otherwise be required of rolling up .and again unrolling the material prior to turning it inside-out.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown at numeral l the sewing machine for bias or helically seaming juxtaposed, opposite edges or selvages 3 and 5 of a strip 1 of loosely woven material, such as burlap or cotton. A portion of the strip I is shownfrom beneath in Fig. 5.- This strip is'bias-cut at its end -(see numeral I3) in the manner described in said Albin patent, and is provided with index marks 8, 8 8."; and H, II", ii on opposite sides respectively, for purposes of registry and maintaining a constant helix angle of the final seam on the final tube. These marks may be of fugitive ink, and penetratingto both sides of the cloth, if de-' sired. This strip is shown cut on the bias at l3- for properly starting operations, the first mark 9 being registered with the. first mark II, the second mark '9 with the second mark H, and so on, continuously, the strip I being continuously needs no further elucidation herein, because it has been otherwise fully described insaid patent.

The sewing machine I is mounted upon a suitable sewing table l9 and draws its thread from a supply 2| for feeding toits reciprocating needle in the usual way. A motor and clutch control unit for the sewing machine is shown at 23 which .is under control of a treadle linkage 25 near the foot of a sewing-machine operator who sits at 0.

Next to the'sewing machine, and axially parallel to the direction in which the sewing machine normallyfeeds a seam, is located a turning tube 21. This consists, for example, of a metal tube, the front end 29 of which has its edges smoothly rounded for easy entry of cloth therein.- PI'he diameter of the tube is optional but it must be large enough to receive therethrough the twisted fabric to be turned. The exit 3| is located to the rear of the operator at who sits facing the sewing machine I. a

To the. rear of the outlet 3| is located a pair of cooperating, rubber-faced draw rolls, which a are driven from a motor 35 by way of a reduction gear box 31. At numeral 39 is shown the starter box for the motor 35, which is wired as indicated at 4| with a control switch 43. Switch 43 has a forward, reverse and neutral position for operating the motor 35 forward or reverse, or halting it. In conjunction with the switch 43 is an onoff switch '45 for complete disconnection of the machine circuit. The control switch 43 is operated to forward, reverse or neutral positions by means of a control pedal 41, operating through a linkage 49. At an adjacent point C is located an operator whose duty is to control the motor 35 from the pedal 41. This-operator also manually is sewn is first pushed through the tube 21 with a suitable rod and then fed to the rolls 33. After said rolls are motivated they draw the twisted cloth through the turning tube 21, turning it inside out at the entry 29. The twisted cloth or intermediate product which comes from the outlet 3| of the turning tube 21 is shown at 52. At

. 52 the seam 59 is inside the resulting twisted fabric tube.

After leaving the draw rolls 33, the twisted turned tubing passes through suitable machinery for untwisting it, such as described in said Albin patent in connection with tubing which was not I5, up the slope 5i, bringing the selvage 5 over the tube 21 toward the selvage 3 while arranging the cloth'so that the operator stationed at 0 may register the marks 3', Il 9 H; etc. As registration is effected by the operator at O, the

seam 59 is formed in the sewing machine condraws the strip 1 from its supply l5 up a slop- I ting board 5] into location around the end 53 of the turning tube 21.

In drawing the material 1 from its supply 15, the operator at C permits the left-hand selvage 3 to pass under the turning tube 21, as indicated at 55 in Figs. 1, 2 and 8. At the same time, the right-hand selvage 5 is brought into position over the .end 53 of the tube, as indicated at numeral The sewing-machine operator at 0 receives the selvages 3 and 5 and properly juxtaposes them flatwise to bring together the proper index marks 9", li 9, ii", etc., and then feeds the properly juxtaposed edges 55 and 51 through the sewing machine I to form a seam 59. The seam may be along, inside or outside of the marks. The offset character of the index marks results in the seam becoming biased or helic'ally artakes up a more or less helical twist as indicated v clearly in Figs. 6 and 8.

The seam 59, if not turned, leaves a selvage protrusion on the outside packages later formed by the tubing. To turn in this protrusion, the .turning tube 21 is provided, into which the seamed tubular fabric cloth is turned as indicated at 53.

To start the turning operation, the cloth as it tinuously. The operator at C at the same time has in sight the rolls 33 and controls these from the pedal 41 so that the cloth is drawn continuously through turning tube 21, but not faster than the operator at O seamsit at 59.

The apparatus and method herein produce a tubularfabric cover composed ofan initially flat strip of loosely woven material on which tube is a bias seam with inside-salvage. The final tube has strands which are parallel and at right angles respectively to the seamed edges or selvages of the strip. The result is a packaging material which is effective and handy, but which has, in addition, a smoother and better final appearance as part of a package.

- An additional feature of the invention is that the tube is turned inside out before untwisting of the sewn tube. This ,saves the steps, which would be necessary if the tubing were first untwisted, of rolling it up in the twisting operation and then unrolling it for the inside-out turning operation. Contrary to what might be expected, the tubing turns inside out perfectly well in a twisted condition. Therefore, when it leaves the roll 33, and is thereafter untwisted and rolled up, it is in its final form, ready for the oval horizontal. The tube 21 may also slope axially if desired. However, the tube 21 has the character of a guide at its end which separates the inside backwardly moving twisted tubing from the outside forwardly moving portion which is being seamed (see Fig. 1).

, It will be understoodthat in Figs. 1-5 and 9 the showing of cloth is necessarily formalized.

Figs. 6-8 were made from photographs, so far as is concerned the showing of cloth, and consequently the practical cloth shapes are more closely approximated.

In Figs. 1-4 the registry marks are not'shown because the cloth is indicated by dot-dash lines.

These registry marks have been shown in Fig. 5. In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained. I

As many changes could be made in the above angles to its longitudinal edges, offsetting initially forming helically seamed tub opposite portions of the edges of the strip, juxtaposing said oifset portions of the edges of the fabric to form a helical seam, seaming said edges on a fixed sewing machine whereby continuous twisted tubing is formed, continuously turning a said twisted tubing inside out b'efore it is untwisted, to present said edges interiorly of the resulting tubing and untwisting" the inside-out tubing to form an untwisted inside-out tubing having an inwardly directed helical seam with threads'respectively located parallel to and at right angles to the helical seam.

2. A. method of forming helically seamed'tub ing comprising continuously withdrawing a fabric strip from a supply, predeterminately offsetting and continuouslyrjoining opposite edges of the strip to form a biased seam, continuously sewing said edges on'a fixed sewing machine as they move in a given direction whereby twisted tubing is produced,- turning said tubing inside out before untwisting by continuously moving the cloth of the twisted tubing in a reverse direction through its own twisted tubular form and continuously drawing the turned and twisted tubing from the point of turning.

3. The method of forming helically seamed tubing comprising drawing a fabric strip from a supply, continuously offsetting and registering the opposite edges of the strip to form a helical seam, seaming the juxtaposed edges on a fixed sewing machine, whereby a twisted tube is formed, and continuously drawing the twisted tube through a hollow turning member to continuously turn it inside out while twisted.

f ARTHUR C. EWER.

CHARLES V. BRADY. ROBERT W. HANSE. 

